Head rules heart as Meath legend Fay hangs up boots

History will recall the great full-backs of the GAA. Meath players will feature strongly on that list, but at the very top should be the greatest of them all, Trim"s Darren Fay. Given the giant man"s modesty he will sit uncomfortably amongst the names like Paddy 'Hands" O"Brien, Jack Quinn and Mick Lyons, but with his retirement confirmed Fay can look back on a career that has made him the finest full-back of his or any other generation. As young man he burst onto the scene in a blaze of sensationalism. As a 21-year-old he was pivotal player in Meath"s outstanding All-Ireland glory of 1996. He went onto to claim another All-Ireland in 1999 and three Allstars before deciding to call it a day when Sean Boylan stepped down in 2005. No one could blame him for walking away with his magnificent reputation intact. However, never one to shirk a challenge, Fay responded when Colm Coyle came calling after he took over from Eamonn Barry as Meath coach and what a return he made. After a year out of the game, Fay was once again the outstanding full-back of 2007 and while the Allstar award may have went to Graham Canty there is no doubting Meath supporters minds who the best player in that position was. 2008 was always going to be difficult and after the disappointment of losing out to Wexford it was hard for all the Meath players to get motivated again, but Fay is a winner and his desire was as strong as ever, but his legs were beginning to tell. After enduring one of the most difficult evenings of his illustrious career, Fay announced that it was time to call it a day. 'I think this is it. I don"t have the legs for it any more. It is alright having the head for it, but if the legs won"t carry you where you want to go then it has to be the end for me,' said Fay. 'I"m glad I came back from the first time I retired. I enjoyed last year, but this year I missed a bit of training and I just haven"t been up to scratch on the pitch.' 'The only thing we can take from the game is that we did restore a little bit of pride by the way we kept battling until the end. 'It is not a great way to go out. The only one that comes to mind when going out on a high note is Peter Canavan who quit after winning an All-Ireland. 'It was not to be for me. Most players tend to go out on a low note and most keep going until they can go no more, so I"m calling time now,' said Fay There was no regrets in Fay"s emotion when he announced his retirement. Conscious of what had just happened in Pairc na nGael the Trim man gave an honest assessment. 'I think there is more in this team. Last year when we were beaten by Cork I thought we were better than them and if we played to what we were capable we would have reached an All-Ireland final so the team is there. 'We definitely thought there was a Leinster title there for us. Wexford caught us on the hop and to be honest they inflicted more damage on us than we thought. 'There is definitely a team there that can win an All-Ireland. The first-half performance against Wexford was as good as I have seen for a long time. 'The second-half was a mental thing, but I think the players are there and more are coming through. Whether they can get it together on the pitch is another thing. 'It would have been for us if this game had been the week after the Wexford game. Seven weeks is not ideal to have to wait for a game. The GAA need to look at it because it is a short enough year. 'We went back to the clubs for three weeks and then it was like a new season having to come back. We were then training without knowing who our opponents would be and it is hard to focus, so the seven week gap was a long time,' concluded the Meath stalwart.